


The New Normal

by WroughtBetwixt



Series: Thallen Week 2015 [4]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Male Character, Complicated Relationships, Crushes, F/M, M/M, Polyamory, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-29
Updated: 2015-05-29
Packaged: 2018-04-01 19:39:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4032172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WroughtBetwixt/pseuds/WroughtBetwixt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iris knows these two will never get things going on their own, especially since she and Eddie are together. She stages a one-woman intervention. Continuation of Guardian Angel, will be expanded in the future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The New Normal

**Author's Note:**

> There wasn't much time to write today, and I wasn't sure what to do with the prompt "social media", so I threw in a mention of Facebook. This was rushed, sorry! :| Here's to my first attempt at platonic Westhallen. This is based off/a continuation of Guardian Angel, and there will be more chapters in the future.

It was three weeks after Barry woke up, a normal Monday.  
  
It was just supposed to be getting coffee from Jitters while he and Iris both had a lunch break. Barry met Iris there, they got their drinks, and went off in search of a place to sit. He hadn’t planned on talking much, feeling more comfortable with Iris filling in the things Barry had missed. Especially when it came to the relationship between Iris and one Detective Eddie Thawne... The man that had saved Barry from a high school bully years ago, the man who had kissed Barry after helping him to his room, the man who had taken off and not showed up until two weeks before the accident at STAR Labs. But somehow, like always, Iris managed to get Barry talking.  
  
“I can imagine must be hard, being back and seeing that things are so different,” Iris said as they walked back towards the little park near the station. “That people are different. I mean, Eddie and me...”  
  
“It’s okay, Iris. I’m really happy for you two. He’s a great guy.”  
  
She sat down on a bench, and Barry sat next to her. Iris sipped her drink, her tone that same laid-back tone she always got when she was trying to gauge Barry’s reaction to something. “Eddie told me that he stopped Jacob Anderson and his friends from beating you up.”  
  
“Yeah?” Barry focused on his Macchiato. “That was years ago. We only met once. I’m surprised he even remembers me.”  
  
“He also told me what happened after.” She paused, looking at Barry over her coffee cup and watching as panic etched itself across his expression. “I’m not trying to corner you, or judge you. I just know you, and I know that if I don’t say something, you’ll never talk about it.”  
  
Barry knew it was true, and that he should have known Iris would figure it out, but the curiosity in Iris’ eyes made Barry want to sink into the park bench and never come back. He had been trying to hard to mask his interest in the stunning, warm blond, and apparently it hadn’t worked. Grasping for some sort of defense, Barry just started spitting out some excuse, any excuse. “Iris, I swear, I’m not--”  
  
Iris raised her hand, and Barry halted. She gave him a small, knowing smile. “Barry, we’ve known each other our whole lives. I can tell when you’re crushing. You look at him the way I did, when we first started dating. And the way you used to look at me.”  
  
“I...” Barry trailed off. When he’d been struggling with his feelings and trying to figure out up from down, he’d developed a major crush on Iris, though they’d long since agreed they were more like platonic life partners than dating material. Iris knew the signs, and now she was sitting there with her dark eyes shining in what he almost thought was amusement. Barry slumped, looking at his hands. “I don’t get why we’re talking about this.”  
  
“Bear with me, and let me let you in on a secret,” Iris said in a lowered voice. She leaned in, and she curled an arm around Barry’s shoulders to hug him close. “When you and Eddie first met, he was so deep in the closet that he was vacationing in Narnia. Then he got transfered to Central City, and there you were. He asked Joe about us, before the accident.”  
  
“What? Why?”  
  
“If we were dating. Roundabout way to see if you were single, I guess.” Iris smiled when Barry blushed, before continuing. “He was heading to the particle accelerator that night because he wanted to have something to talk to you about. But then the mugger happened, and then the accident... He wanted to get to know you. Trust me, I was there for when he was reading your blog. He even came with me sometimes, to visit you. That’s how he and I grew close.”  
  
“So...” Shifting his gaze towards the police station, Barry let that information sink in. Eddie had remembered him; that much he knew. But he hadn’t known that Eddie had spoken to Joe that night, or Iris, and the fact that Iris seemed so cool with the fact that he and Eddie had kissed... Was the whole world going upside down, or what? “So he was interested in me at some point. It doesn’t change the fact that he’s with you.”  
  
“What if he wasn’t just with me?”  
  
Barry blinked. “I’m having trouble following.”  
  
And this time, Iris was the one that blushed a little. She fiddled with her phone, thinking. “You know how some people have a ‘free pass’ list?” Her tone was more hesitant. “The ‘if this person ever is interested you can go for it’ sort of thing?”  
  
“Yeah, of course.”  
  
“Let’s just say you’re on the top of his.” Iris held up her phone for Barry to see, her hand shaking ever so slightly. It was Iris’ Facebook page; her status with Eddie read ‘in an open relationship’. Barry just stared at the words, it slowly sinking in what was being implied, and realizing why Iris was suddenly nervous. “I know it’s unconventional, and Joe’s going to have a cow when he sees. But after you came back, we thought maybe you two could have a chance.”  
  
“You both would be okay with that?” Barry asked, wondering if he really was awake. “The three of us?”  
  
“I know people, Barry. He looks at you like a lost puppy, and I know you’re attracted to him. I care about you. I love Eddie. You’re the two most important people in my life besides dad, and even if we’re just friends, I can’t imagine my life without you. What I want is for all of us to be happy.”  
  
Barry just nodded, speechless. There was movement out of the corner of his eye, and when he looked up, Eddie was standing outside the police station. Their eyes met, and Eddie gave Barry the smallest of waves. Barry looked to Iris, questioning but still not quite able to form words.  
  
“Yeah, he knows I was going to tell you. Go see him,” she said with a gentle nudge. “The three of us can talk later.”  
  
They hugged, and Barry headed towards Eddie. They smiled at each other, tentative, before going inside and finding a quiet corner to talk. Maybe everything was different now, Barry thought, but if this was the new normal... maybe it wasn’t going to be so bad, after all.


End file.
